Hand crimper

ABSTRACT

A tool is provided for affixing a closure to a bottle mouth which includes two pivotably connected jaws and a center cap between the jaws, with a pair of integral downwardly directed ears on opposite sides of the center cap to engage the jaws and hold the center cap between the jaws, whereby after affixation of a closure to a container mouth, spreading the jaws of the tool will center the center cap and the closure seated in the cap between the jaws and strip the jaws from the closure.

I United States Patent [151 3,659,397

Mills [451 May 2, 1972 54] HAND CRIMPER 913,336 2/1909 Westerbeck ..81/3.44

, 958,333 5/1910 [72] Inventor. James B. Mills, Richmond, Ind. 1,467,338 9/1923 [73] Assignee: Aluminum Company of America, Pitt- 2,057,614 10/1936 sburgh, Pa. 2,811,001 10/1957 F'l d: A 30 1970 [22] l e pr Primary Examiner-Theron E. Condon [21] Appl- NO- 33,221 Assistant Examiner-Horace M. Culver Attorney-David W. Brownlee [52] U.S. Cl ..53/329, 53/390 [51] ..B65b 7/28, B65b 67/00 [571 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search ..53/305, 306, 367, 390, 329; A tool is provided for afi-lxing a closure to a bottle mouth R1 C; 30/271 which includes two pivotably connectedjaws and a center cap between the jaws, with a pair of integral downwardly directed [5 6] References C'ted ears on opposite sides of the center cap to engage the jaws and UNITED STATES PATENTS hold the center cap between the jaws, whereby after affixation I of a closure to a container mouth, spreading the aws of the RObll'lSOl'l too] center the enter ca and the closure seated in the 293,872 5/1 884 y 53/329 cap between the jaws and strip the jaws from the closure. 590,710 9/1897 Sheppard et al. ..81/3.44 871,197 11/1907 Abel, Jr ..81/3.44 UX 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures msm 2m 3,659,397 SHEET 10F 2 FIG.

INVENTOR. JAMES B. MILLS QMMEM Attorney PATENTEDMAY 21912 SHEET 2 BF 2 wv QN Wm m QM w. Em

Attorney HAND CRIMPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a tool for affixing a closure to a container mouth which includes a center cap for seating the tool on a closure and a pair of pivotably connected jaws in face-to-face relation for moving against the closure skirt to tuck or crimp its bottom edge under a bead on the containers mouth, and which further includes a pair of ears, one each on opposite sides of the center cap for engaging the outer surface of the jaws and holding the center cap between the jaws. The center cap and the ears on it facilitate seating the tool on a closure for affixation, and also stripping of the closure from the jaws after affixation.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved closure applying tool.

A further object of the'invention is to provide a closure applying tool which is easily seated on a closure before affixation and readily stripped from the closure after affixation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description and appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a hand crimper of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the hand crimper of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line IIl--III of FIG. 2 illustrating the hand crimper on a bottle after affixation of a closure to the bottle DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, a hand crimper is illustrated which is comprised of two lever members 12 and 14 pivotably mounted with respect to each other, and a center cap. 16 pivotably mounted on the lever members. The lever members 12 and 14 have jaws l8 and 20 in confronting face-to-face relation for movement toward and away from each other, and the center cap 16 is mounted between jaws. As shown in FIG. 3, the lever members 12 and 14 have holes through their arms for receiving a pin orstud 22 which is threaded into a tapped hole in the center cap 16 for assembly of the hand crimper whereby the lever members and center cap can pivot with respect to one another. A set screw 23 may also be provided for tightening against stud 22 to prevent loosening of the stud. Additionally, a spring 24 may be provided for securement on the pivotable connection of the center head, with one end of the spring engaged in a hole in one of the lever members 14 and the other end of the spring engaged against the jaw 18 of the other lever member 12 so that the spring action will open the jaws 18 and 20 ofthe crimper.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, center cap 16 may be in the form of a circular plate with an arm 26 extending radially outward from the plate for attachment to the lever members 12 and 14 by means of the stud 22. A circularseat 28 is provided in the bottom of the center cap for receiving and engagingthe top of a closure to be affixed to a bottle, and has a resilient ring 30 made of rubber or the like positioned in an annular recess in the seat 28. The center cap further has an annular groove 34 and an annular lip 36 around its periphery for engagement with mating structure on the jaws 18 and 20 of the lever members 12 and 14. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the center cap also has a pair of opposed, outwardly and downwardly projecting ears 42 for engaging the outer periphery of the jaws l8 and 20 so that the center cap will be maintained between these jaws. The ears 42 also prevent lever members from being spread so far apart that they are not easily grasped in one hand. When the jaws have opened wide enough to permit the positioning of the hand crimper over a closure on a bottle, the jaws are stopped by the ears so that they cannot further.

The jaws 18 and 20 are outwardly bowed and have an inwardly projecting annular lip 38 and an inwardly opened annular groove 40 for engaging the groove 34 and lip 36 on the center cap 16 so that the jaws will fit around the center cap in a tongue-in-groove arrangement. The jaws further have an inwardly directed annular lip 44 around their inner peripheries for tucking or crimping a lower portion of a closure skirt inwardly under a bead on a container mouth. Crimping lip 44 may be discontinuous or interrupted around the periphery of the jaws, but is preferably continuous so that a substantially continuous crimp can be made around the skirt of a closure. The hand crimper 10 will be designed and dimensioned for use on a particular closure and bottle so that the crimping lip 44 will engage the bottom one-eighth to one-fourth inch of the closure skirt when the center cap 16 of the crimper is seated on the top of the closure. It is apparent, however, that if the crimp were to be made above the bottom of the skirt of the closure, the location of the crimping lip 44 could be adjusted accordingly to effect such a crimp. I

In the operation of a hand crimper of the invention, a closure 46 is first positioned on the entrance mouth to a bottle 48 or other container, and the hand crimper is positioned on the closure with the top of the closure seated in the center cap 16. The closure may be any ofa variety of metal closures such as a steri-cap, a tear-off closure, or the like which has a depending skirt which is to be secured against the bottle mouth. With a crimper which has a spring for spreading its lever members, the jaws of the hand crimper will be held open by such spring and will not interfer with positioning of the crimper on the closure. Once the crimper is positioned on the closure, the lever members 12 and 14 are moved together to close the jaws l8 and 20 against the closure 46. As the jaws move against the closure, the crimping lip 44 on the jaws engages a lower portion of the skirt of the closure to deform such lower portion inwardly under a bead 50 on the containers entrance mouth to form a downwardly and inwardly directed annular lip 52 on the skirt of the closure. It is noted that the tongue-in-groove engagement of the center cap and jaws holds the center cap against the closure and against any upward pressure that may be applied to the closure during crimping. In the absence of the tongue-in-groove engagement, the closure and center cap might be pushed upward and result in a poor crimp on the closure skirt.

Once the closure has been affixed to the container, the crimping tool is then removed from the closure and container. This is done by spreading the lever members 12 and 14 to spread the jaws l8 and 20. The jaws, however, may not immediately free themselves from the closure due to the wedging action which is produced during crimping by the crimping lip 44 against the bottom of the closure skirt and the center cap 16 against the top of the closure. With the heretofore known crimping tools, this wedging made it difficult to remove the tool from the affixed closure, and the user had to forceably separate the jaws from the closure. With the crimper of the present invention, however, the jaws are easily freed from the closure when the lever members are spread. The ears on the center cap center the cap and the closure which is seated in the cap between the jaws, and the jaws upon spreading automatically pull away from both sides of the closure and completely free the closure from the crimping tool.

Although it is necessary to close the crimping tool on the closure only once to affix the closure to a bottle, it is sometimes desirable to rotate the crimping tool with respect to the closure and again close the tool around the closure to insure that the lower portion of the closure skirt is securely crimped or tucked under the bead on the bottle mouth. If any wrinkles or corrugations have formed in the closure skirt during the first closure crimping operation, the second action of the crimping tool on the closure will smooth out any such wrinkles and form a smooth secure affixation of the closure on a container.

It is therefore seen that a simple and inexpensive crimping tool is provided which is readily positioned on a closure on a container mouth and which is easily closed to tuck a lower portion of the closure skirt under a bead on the container entrance mouth. It is also seen that the hand crimper can be easily and readily removed by spreading the lever members to spread the jaws of the closure and free the jaws from both sides of the closure so that the crimping tool can be readily lifted from the affixed closure. While a particular embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various modifications can be made in the crimping tool.

lclaim:

1. In a tool for affixing a closure to a bottle mouthcomprising a pair of jaws arranged in confronting face-to-face relation and connected together for movement toward and away from each other, the confronting face of each of said jaws being bowed outwardly to engage the skirt of the closure and having an inwardly projecting lip around the jaws to crimp a portion of the closure skirt inward under a bead on a container mouth, the improvement comprising a center cap pivotably mounted between said jaws and adapted to engage the top of a closure on a bottle, said center cap having a tongue and groove engagement with said jaws to hold the center cap in vertical position with respect to the jaws, and further having fixed ears on either side thereof projecting into the plane of said jaws and spaced outwardly therefrom when the jaws are closed so that said ears engage the jaws when they are opened and thereby maintain the cap between the jaws and facilitate stripping a closure from the jaws.

2. A tool as set forth in claim 1 which includes spring means for spreading the jaws of the tool.

3. A tool as set forth in claim 1 in which the center cap has a recess in its undersurface for seating a closure in the center cap. 

1. In a tool for affixing a closure to a bottle mouth comprising a pair of jaws arranged in confronting face-to-face relation and connected together for movement toward and away from each other, the confronting face of each of said jaws being bowed outwardly to engage the skirt of the closure and having an inwardly projecting lip around the jaws to crimp a portion of the closure skirt inward under a bead on a container mouth, the improvement comprising a center cap pivotably mounted between said jaws and adapted to engage the top of a closure on a bottle, said center cap having a tongue and groove engagement with said jaws to hold the center cap in vertical position with respect to the jaws, and further having fixed ears on either side thereof projecting into the plane of said jaws and spaced outwardly therefrom when the jaws are closed so that said ears engage the jaws when they are opened and thereby maintain the cap between the jaws and facilitate stripping a closure from the jaws.
 2. A tool as set forth in claim 1 which includes spring means for spreading the jaws of the tool.
 3. A tool as set forth in claim 1 in which the center cap has a recess in its undersurface for seating a closure in the center cap. 